Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32196666›Full record

ArticleJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2020

Sex differences in foetal origins of child emotional symptoms: a test of evolutionary hypotheses in a large, general population cohort.

Elizabeth C Braithwaite, Andrew Pickles, Nicola Wright, Helen Sharp, Jonathan Hill

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Elizabeth C BraithwaiteDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4902-2262
Andrew PicklesDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1283-0346
Nicola WrightDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3285-2051
Helen SharpDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0988-8718
Jonathan HillSchool for Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2801-0449
King's College London · GBManchester Metropolitan University · GBUniversity of Liverpool · GBUniversity of Reading · GB

Funding

Department of Health NF‐SI‐0617‐10120Medical Research Council G0400577Medical Research Council G0900654Medical Research Council MC_PC_19009Medical Research Council MR/L022257/1Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 102215/2/13/2
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBased on previous findings from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS), and on evolutionary hypotheses, we preregistered analyses of data from a large epidemiological sample (https://osf.io/fn5g9/register/564d31db8c5e4a7c9694b2be), to test for sex-dependent moderation by prenatal maternal depressive symptoms of the association between postnatal maternal depressive symptoms and child emotional problems.

methodsA total of 8,354 mothers and children were followed from pregnancy to 3.5 years in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Self-report measures of prenatal and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms, and maternal report of child emotional symptoms were administered.

resultsThere was a three-way interaction between maternal prenatal and postnatal depression, and child sex (Coeff .042 95% CI 0.015 to 0.068, p = .002). This arose from moderation by prenatal depression, in opposite directions in boys and in girls. In boys, the association between postnatal depression and child emotional symptoms was weaker following lower prenatal depressive symptoms (interaction term coeff = .030, p = .001), and in girls, to a lesser extent, the association was stronger following lower prenatal depressive symptoms (interaction term coeff = -.012, p = .221).

conclusionsWe replicated the finding from the WCHADS that prenatal depression modifies the association between postnatal depression and children's emotional problems in a sex-dependent fashion. In ALSPAC, the sex difference was explained mainly by a protective effect of low prenatal depression in boys, while in WCHADS, it arose from greater vulnerability of girls to postnatal depression following low prenatal depression. In the light of these findings, in evaluating and implementing early interventions, there is need to consider that risks associated with postnatal depression may vary depending on maternal mood during pregnancy and may differ between boys and girls.

Indexed as

AffectEmotionsFetusSex CharacteristicsChild, PreschoolDepression, PostpartumFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornLongitudinal StudiesMaleMothersPregnancyPrenatal Exposure Delayed Effectsemotional disordermaternal depressionpostnatalprenatalSex differences

Identifiers

PMID32196666
PMCPMC8641379
OpenAlexW3006325128

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.